I'm not the biggest fan of Caryl Churchill but this is far and away her best work! Seeing a top-notch professional production might account for my positive reaction to it - without seeing it onstage, I had a very difficult time envisioning the play when I read it the first time. ( )

interesting exploration of sexual politics, but didn't feel like much more than just that-- an exploration ( )

Poignant play, both comedy and tragedy, through the British Music Hall tradition, examining gender and roles (and stereotypes of all sorts). ( )

Another Ardgour readthrough. I want to say 'I liked this a lot', but I'm not sure 'like' is a word I can associate with this weird ikky tale of colonialism, incest, adultery, paedophilia and orgies. It ought to be trying too hard - everything is shock factor turned up to 11. But the language is so slick, and makes you flinch and laugh and cry all at the same time, with wry dark humour and deep insight. It's a play of two halves, which while they have parallels and echos are mostly disjoint. The first half is colonial Africa, a man trying to keep the white beacon of God, Queen, Family and Respectability burning through a mess of lust, unrequited love, fights with the natives, and Christmas. The second half is the 1970s, and a sprawling mess of people bringing up children, having sex, and trying to work out who they are and what they like in the world. ( )